Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Advice from my 90-year old self

Dear 54-year old Deb ~

Well, here we are at the ripe age of 90 and what a great life it's been! It took the first 54 years to figure out what we wanted to do with this life, and once we figured it out we never looked back. Life's been very good to us so far.

Yoga made the biggest difference. Investing time for yoga teacher training was a great choice! We've been able to help others that way, and yoga has helped keep us healthy and strong. Just wait until you see us hold downward facing dog at 90!

All that time we spent making quilts (and other handmade gifts) for others was totally worth it. Worth every single minute. Keep making stuff!

Honey, we spent an awful lot of time worrying about things that never happened. We still work on that and have gotten better as the years have rolled on. Carrie is 63-years old, for crying out loud. She's taken great care of herself so stop worrying!

Remember how we always swore that once Whiskers was gone there'd be no more cats? Quit swearing.

54-year old Deb, where in the world are we going to put one more piece of mandala artwork? We really need to start giving this stuff away so that Carrie and the grandkids won't have to deal with it when we're gone.

We were never able to change other people and it's a shame we spent so much time hoping to. Live and let live is one of our favorite mottos.

Loving everyone is hard, but try anyway. When we love and accept others, it's easier to love and accept ourselves.

Girl, we learned to grow an amazing garden! You should see all the pretty roses and plump tomatoes we have now. There was a learning curve beyond sunflowers, but practice made darn near perfect. Keep digging!

Every generation has had its share of bad stuff to deal with, and every generation thinks it's never been so bad. It has. Remember that every generation has had its share of greatness too. Always look to the great side of things.

I'm so glad we took the time to document our stories through scrapbooking and blogging. Pass me that 2012 Project Life book, please.

We've been human in every sense of the word. Mistakes, victories, hopes and dreams and disappointments, love and mix-ups. We learned to forgive our self and others - one of the toughest things to do but I'm glad we stuck with it. Forgiveness is a beautiful thing.

Put down the wine glass. Oh, who am I kidding? Pour me another, will you?

Well done on living life to its fullest, Debbie Dear.

With so much self-love and compassion,
~ Myself @ 90
 
PS: Sunscreen and a hat. Enough said.
____________________________________________
 
What would your 90-year old self have to say to you?

7 comments:

Patio Postcards said...

Dear 90 Year Old Deb: Such a journey we have had together. I have read every post these long years - do not remind me of how long I have been reading & commenting on your post. What, really, 37 years of sheer delight, I do not feel a day older in many regards. :)

Oh Deb! I am not sure why, but your beautiful letter made me cry, (not the ugly cry, but the happy tears). I really really like this post. What was your prompt to write?

Fiona@Staring at the Sea said...

What a beautiful letter, Deb. It made me cry too. I lost a dear friend last week. He had just started the path to his dream, having been an amazing teacher for the last 23 years, helping countless teens reach their full potential. He was 53.

debs14 said...

Wise words! Make sure you listen to them! I seem to spend a lot of time trying to convince Rachel that things have a habit of working out, all the worrying in the world won't change some things and sometimes you just have to trust that fate will sort things out. Sometimes I need to remind myself of that too.
Sounds like 90 year old Deb is going to be spending time sitting with her cats in the garden with a nice cold glass of wine!

Karen said...

Wonderful post, Deb! I'm finding that working on being more mindful is helping me keep lots of things in better perspective. I wish I had started meditation and mindfulness training 20 years ago!

Sian said...

Gosh, I have no idea! But I now have the voice of my Grandma in my ear, when she was 90 and still having fun asking us what were getting up to. I'd like to be like that. And the thought of seeing you still doing yoga at that age is making me hope I'll be around then to cheer

Becky said...

Very wise words. A great post :)

Susanne said...

What a lovely post - your lightheartedness and seriousness shine through in equal measure. Yoga, I suspect, encourages that balance.

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